It happened in...
Eclipse
THURS 30 AUG
We missed most of Tuesday's total lunar eclipse. For the first half, we were still working, and then it started to cloud over.When the moon was eerily dark and red, I tried and tried to get a decent shot, but the camera's autofocus simply couldn't cope with the lack of light. (I'll use this as further ammunition in my Gentle Persuasion campaign to buy a dSLR. Slowly, slowly...)
When the light returned, I got a few pictures including this one.
A sunset and a storm
MON 27 AUG
When the cat slinks off and squeezes under the sofa, it's a fairly reliable sign that there's a storm coming.And yesterday, just before dusk, an enormous storm moved in from the mountains, and the world turned orange. It was almost enough to unsettle the humans of the house too.
So while Milk hunkered down under the furniture, I grabbed my camera and ran upstairs. The wind was howling through the window, and the rain wasn't far off, but before the deluge began, I captured this...
Water spotted in people pool
TUES 23 AUG
The problem you often encounter in trying to enjoy your leisure time in Japan is that it's more than likely to be everybody else's leisure time too. With workers encouraged only to take a day or two off at specific times of the year (New Year, Golden Week, O-bon) bottlenecks are a way of life, and Japanese people don't seem to mind trying to squeeze onto an already packed train, sitting in traffic jams, or joining queues that would make me turn right around and seek an alternative.Many folks therefore had their 'summer vacation' (2 or 3 days) last week for O-bon, which coincided with the record-breaking heatwave. Now I know people in Tokyo are used to living in close proximity, but this...
Things to do in Yamaga when you're dead
WEDS 22 AUG
In hindsight, it probably wasn't the best idea to arrive at lunchtime for an evening firework display on the hottest day of the year.
With people in less leafy, more concretey places keeling over, Japan last week recorded its highest ever recorded temperature (40.9°) and we'd been thinking we might "go for a little wander". The small town of Yamaga was after all gearing up for its biggest festival of the year. That wander took us far as the air-conditioned shelter of the restaurant Joyfull where we sat and made our way through their ice-cream menu. I can now confirm that this won't fill 6 hours.
The best way to see any Japanese town's summer festival is simple: live in that town. Any other approach will mean your patience being sorely tested as you sit in impossibly long traffic jams, follow needless diversions and seek parking that doesn't exist. Or you can get there 6 hours early. As we did. On the hottest day ever.
And so the next 6 hours passed in a zazen-like trance, with us sat sheltering from the blazing heat under a bridge. Dragonflies shot past. Waterskiers buzzed up and down the river, drenched, cool and smiling. And very slowly, as clouds began to hide the evening sun, and the temperature relented, people began to emerge, ready to party.
As evening fell, the riverbank slowly began to fill with festival folks dressed in their summer yukata, and we finally settled down for the show.
Artistic Paddies
WEDS 22 AUG
As a smelly hippie once said, "First, we sow the seed. Then, nature grows the seed. Then, we eat the seed." Well, that's all well and good, but it's not very colourful, is it. No wonder he soon got a shovel round the back of his head.For the farmers of Inakadate, in northern Aomori prefecture, rice is not just a humble grain, but also art.
Hi no Kuni matsuri
SUN 12 AUG
One of the best things about the Japanese summer
This year is the 400th anniversary of Kumamoto castle, and the scaffolding has finally come down on the 'new' reconstruction (with the white roof) just in time for the festival season. This is the view of the famous castle from the city centre.
And of course, no festival would be complete until you've seen the fireworks.
Out of the ordinary
SUN 12 AUG
Architecture buffs don't come to Kumamoto, generally speaking. Some would say they needn't bother coming to Japan at all. But occasionally, among the corrugated iron and concrete and plastic cladding you can find saucy little items like Kumamoto North police headquarters. I've mentioned it before ("It was built in 1991, as part of the Kumamoto Artpolis architectural project, which aims to provide imaginative modern buildings") but I think this is a better picture of it than previous offerings.
Signs of a struggle
SUN 12 AUG
Returned from work to be greeted by... destruction.I can sense that there was a great battle here. How many died, we'll never know. Perhaps many, perhaps just a few. No evidence remains.
Maybe the evidence was eaten. Maybe it was entirely imaginary. Either way, the new hole is more than a metre off the ground. What happened here? It's all a most perplexing mystery.
Election dissection
THURS 02 AUG
The ruling Jiminto's (LDP) defeat in the upper house elections last weekend was, let's not mince words, a trouncing. And let's also be under no illusions - it was entirely of their own making. Voters have not turned en masse to the opposition DPJ, they have simply turned away from the LDP.
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| Vandalised poster in Saitama, photo: Paul Osborne |
Even though Mr Abe's coalition partners tried to put some gloss on it, saying that this wasn't a rejection of Mr Abe or his policies, it's clear that, with this being the first public vote since he took over, he has no popular mandate. Many therefore have been calling for his resignation.
From my post at Japundit -
"A Sunday exit poll of voters revealed that 56% thought he should go. This led to further criticism when it was revealed he had no intention of doing so. His opponents had at least waited until the results were in before calling for his head, but they didn't waste too much time before sticking the boot in."On Monday, LDP Secretary General Hidenao Nakagawa announced his resignation "to take responsibility for the loss". One man, however, who was genuinely partly to blame, was staying. Or so he thought. Agriculture Minister Norihiko Akagi, who was at the centre of 3 expenses scandals in the weeks prior to the election, when asked if he would resign, told a press conference that no, he had no intention of resigning, he would remain and "tackle a mountain of agricultural issues."
But the very next day his boss laid down some pretty strong hints that he was going to have a major cabinet reshuffle soon and the man who's only been Minister of Agriculture for a mere two months would be one of the names crossed off his list.
His resignation was announced the next day. He's staying on as a Diet member though. So while his resignation is an apology to his boss and the party for his part in the election debacle, it seems that none is due to the public whose money he stands accused of stuffing his pockets with. And now he's no longer a minister, it seems there'll be no explanation either.
The question now is how long will Abe remain? The LPD still have a huge majority in the lower house, so I dare say that apart from assembling a post-election-autopsy-committee, he'll be in no hurry to do much of anything. (The press are claiming that there are no obvious successors waiting to take over anyway.) So he'll have to stay and have a policy overhaul and that means accepting the rejection of his 'grand plan' and binning it, and giving a bit more thought to domestic issues.
The morning chorus
WEDS 01 AUG
With summer now in full swing, I'm a merry old soul first thing in the morning.With nothing in Japan being open before 10 in the morning, it is of course essential that we have scorching bright sunlight at 4am (and none after 7pm). The rejection of daylight saving time enables most folks across Japan, living in shoddily built abodes, to have a decent sweat before they get up, partially dehydrated, to start another day of complaining about the heat and humidity.
Something else which excites me about getting up every morning is the razor-edged shrieking of cicadas.
A total bastard
Two total bastards. In a tree.
Back to July?